Malls Put Emphasis On Security

This Week's Fbi Alert Put The Spotlighton Malls' Vulnerabilities And How They Have Improved Security.

April 27, 2002|By Richard Burnett, Sentinel Staff Writer

The last thing shoppers need when heading for a sale at the mall is to worry about whether there's a bomb, anthrax or some other terrorist threat there, too.

Yet the possibility of such an attack has been a recurring, if remote, concern since the events of Sept. 11.

Whether fed by rumor, political rhetoric or official government action -- such as this week's FBI alert -- the shopping-center scenario has taken on a life of its own.

The latest questions about malls' vulnerability were raised Wednesday, when the FBI alerted local authorities nationwide about information indicating that malls or shopping centers might be a terrorist target. FBI officials cautioned that the threat was unsubstantiated and that they had doubts about the reliability of the source -- a captured al-Qaeda leader.

Still, mall owners say they have put more time, money, personnel and training into their security since September's terrorism. Industry officials won't be specific about the measures they have taken; instead, they talk of greater staff awareness, added patrols, stricter monitoring of traffic, and more visible security. Many malls have added surveillance cameras and enhanced lighting. Some even have occasional emergency drills.

"We can't quantify these efforts, but it goes without saying that additional resources have been applied to our security," said Billie Scott, spokeswoman for The Simon Property Group Inc., the nation's largest mall developer. The Indianapolis-based company owns both Florida Mall in south Orlando and Seminole Towne Center in Sanford.

"We will remain on high alert and continue to have the added security measures in place that we've had since last fall," Scott said.

Mall companies have balked, however, when it comes to some of the weightier, and more expensive, security measures, such as chemical/biological-warfare sensors, access-control equipment, package scanners and metal detectors.

Such equipment, they say, belongs in airports and other high-security installations -- not in a shopping center open to the public.

"It's really not an issue of cost," said Wally Brewster, senior vice president of marketing for Chicago-based General Growth Properties Inc., which owns Altamonte Mall in Altamonte Springs and West Oaks Mall in Ocoee. "From our perspective, it would be an overreaction. We don't want to be a controlled area like that, and there's really not a need for it. A shopping mall is a convenient shopping destination that welcomes the public."

In many ways, malls face the same tension between freedom, security and cost that every business has faced since Sept. 11, experts say. If they go too far with security, they may appear heavy-handed and alienate their customers. If they spend too much and pass the costs on through new leases, they could drive away tenants. But if they don't do enough, and something happens, they're in deep trouble.

Unlike most other businesses, however, shopping centers continue to pop up in public and government discussions about the threat of terrorism. For example:

In early April, former Israeli Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that terrorism could eventually strike U.S. shopping centers if Israel was unsuccessful against the Palestinians. Recent suicide bombings in Israel have taken place in or near busy malls or entertainment venues.

Last summer, researchers conducted a sophisticated counter-terrorism simulation involving a nationwide outbreak of small pox. How did the simulated terrorists spread the virus? Through the air-handling systems of malls in Oklahoma City, Atlanta and Philadelphia.

Last fall, amid the post-Sept. 11 paranoia, a rumor ran rampant on the Internet that terrorists planned an attack on shopping malls at Halloween. The potential threat of terrorism has made security a hot topic at almost every retail industry gathering these days, said Tom Walton, Southeast regional vice president for Allied Security Inc., a big commercial security contractor based in King of Prussia, Pa.

"At a recent conference I attended, we heard about new face-recognition and vehicle-recognition software that the Europeans are now using," he said. "The question was when would that be available in the U.S.

"But it takes a tremendous amount of capital for that kind of system," Walton added. "We're in a difficult time in our economy right now."

In short, malls are walking a tightrope, said Jonathan Bernstein, chief executive officer of Bernstein Communications Group, a crisis-management firm with offices in Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles.

"Certainly malls are less vulnerable to terrorism now than they were six months ago," he said. "However, at many locations, the improvement in security is more cosmetic than real."

But when it comes to potential attacks, experts say malls have the same problem most other high-profile sites have in an open society: They can't close all the loopholes.

"When you do a full analysis of vulnerabilities, you can drive yourself crazy," said Donald Hamilton, a former U.S. diplomat and now deputy director of the Oklahoma City National Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism. "Obviously there in Orlando, you have the question about theme parks and shopping malls. Here in Oklahoma, we have concerns about oil and gas pipelines. When you go through the analysis, there's no end to the list of potential targets."